Life's too short for walking.

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So much for keeping this blog updated. The past couple of weeks have been really good training-wise. I dropped about 18 pounds in 3 weeks and my 10 milers have consistently been under 70 minutes. I had a 35-mile weekend 2 weekends ago and 30-mile weekend this past weekend. The bump in speed is probably all mental, but it did coincide with switching to an old pair of NB 101s and ditching the tunes while I run. I like being able to hear my breathing pattern. I’m gonna have to start putting in some 20-milers soon AND start hitting the hills.

Legs feel shitty and my achilles is a mess. Kinda surprised that yesterday’s (Saturday) run beat me up so badly. Supposed to run the toughest 50 miler in the country in 6 weeks and I can’t do a 15-15 weekend. LOL.

Run up to the TV Towers at South Mountain. Left achilles is tender, so I took it easy. Up in 65 minutes. Down in 51.

Road was packed with cyclists as usual. Actually saw probably 10 other runners. There was a group of 4 people doing hill repeats on the last nasty climb. They looked miserable as it was almost 80 degrees at 10:30. The down went better than expected. Kinda fell into a nice groove where I lengthened my stride a little and didn’t fight the downward momentum. I expected this to turn into a disaster, but it didn’t. Turned out to be a solid run.

An “I don’t want to!” run with my oldest daughter in the running stroller. Cool and blustery, but I felt good. Certainly not the best effort I’ve ever put forth. Run up to the TV Towers on South Mountain on Saturday. Should be fun.

I realize this training probably seems like a joke. I mean, I have 7 weeks until running one of the toughest ultras in the world and I think I’ve done one 20-miler in the past 6 months and haven’t put in more than 60 miles a week so far. I don’t know, even when I was healthy I trained like this. I can’t really do a long, drawn-out training cycle. Anything more than a couple of months and I burn out. I don’t really do “junk” miles either. Most runs are run at 80 to 90 percent effort. This has always run counter to what all my ultra brethren have ever said to me.

But it’s always worked for me. I’m certainly nowhere near elite, I’d probably be lucky to come in the top half of a races like Western States or Leadville. But I’m generally at the front of the pack and have had several top 5 finishes in the local PHX races.

I don’t really know what I’m trying to say, other than don’t ever taking training advice from me and you should probably stop following this blog because you might pick up some bad habits.

Solid week so far. 10 in 73 on Tuesday and 10 in 72 yesterday. Another 10 tonight. Achilles (which had been tender) is better and my legs feel strong. Another 15/15 weekend, then I’ll bump it up to 20/15 the following weekend.

My beloved Sansa Clip+ finally died (it was more than 10 years old) and I just ordered a new one. Anyone in need of an MP3 player (cell phones are just too big nowadays) should really check it out. My old one got over 15 hours of battery life when it was new. About $50 on Amazon for the 8GB version with miniSD card slot.

Running has been a struggle for the past year. I don’t like making excuses, but Valley Fever really knocked me on my ass. I chose not to take the “treatment” for it because of the damage it would do to my liver. Once the cough left, I was left with a shitload of fatigue. As a guy who normally only sleeps 3 or 4 hours a night and has energy to burn, this constant lack of energy has been a struggle. Then, obviously, a lot of self-doubt creeps in and all of a sudden I’m gaining 20+ pounds and only running once or twice a week.

The good news is that I have been back at it for a month or so. I started at just three days a week and have bumped it up to 5 days a week recently. I had a 15/15 weekend this past weekend and have been enjoying the trails. I do feel slower in general, but can still occasionally pull out a sub-70 10-miler. I have recently started a diet and have now dropped 5 pounds or so in the last 10 days. I have signed up for the Zane Grey 50. This will probably break my streak of top 5 finishes in ultras, but I’m totally fine with that. I’m just happy to be serious about running again.

Well, my streak got up to 120 or so and then I had to call it quits. I think I acquired Valley Fever right after I register for the Bataan Death March and I trained with it because I didn’t want to back out of another race. After the race I continue my streak, but my cough got to the point where I just had to do something about it. Five doctors visit and an official Valley Fever diagnosis later and I’m just now starting to feel about 75%. I’ve only been running once or twice a week for the past month or so. I’m gonna continue this until August, then ramp it up for a 4:30 rim-to-rim attempt at the Grand Canyon in early October and Javelina Jundred in late October.